Just about bordering on odd, I see things through different eyes.The heading says it all - I live, I love, I craft, I am me...

09/05/2022

Bloomin' eck - it were a good day!

Our life is about honouring gentle rituals and traditions and around this time of the year we go and walk through our favourite blue bell woods on Oxenber Hill. Today (Monday) Himself had taken the day off so we could do exactly that, and it was wonderful (bar a slight mishap!)

We knew that there was the possibility of rain in the afternoon, so we set off after breakfast with a picnic lunch and flask of tea and a rather over excited Moss. She could barely contain herself. She's been on restricted exercise again (due to catching a dew claw and making her 'thumb' tender) but this last weekend the damaged claw finally came off and the new little stumpy claw has been clipped carefully to make sure it was not too scratchy and she was raring to go!

When we first arrived, Himself and I got ourselves booted up while Moss sat (im)patiently fidgeting and wriggling as she watched our every moved, her whole body language was 'shrieking' HURRY UP!
We followed a favourite route and as we got closer to the bluebells we were drenched in their fragrance - it was absolutely gorgeous.  We could smell them before we could see them and as we reached, then climbed over the stile, we were blown away by the rolling fields of blue.
As soon as we could, we were down at flower level taking pictures and just imbibing in their fragrance.
Hidden amongst the wash of blue were flashes of white with wild garlic and wood anemone threading through. 

Further round, where it was sunnier and the soil seemed drier, primroses and violets danced in the light breeze.



The path turned upwards on the the hill where the bluebells completely covered the slopes. Almost at the top we turned off the main path and followed a quieter path to a grassy mound where we stopped for lunch.
It was not long before Moss found herself a 'small' stick and insisted on presenting it to Himself several times.  Her antics made us chuckle but we refused her request as we knew she would go tearing through the flowers and just flatten them, so we invited her to sit with us and have a biscuit or two while we ate our lunch.

Popping up through the bluebells were now rich purple orchids - the array of blooms just invited every bee in the near vicinity to the banquet and the air was not only filled with fragrance but the industrious buzz of hundreds of fuzzy bumble bees - I could just not stop smiling at their fat little bodies going from flower to flower in their quest for pollen.

With one eye on the sky, we thought we better not linger too long at lunch and set off through the woodlands.
We met a few folk along our way, also loving the display and enjoying the walk, one lady we came up to was trying to photograph her dogs however, they were not cooperating, preferring to snuffle around than sitting and posing, so I offered either to hold the dogs (with me hiding behind the wall) or to take photos - the owner plumped for the latter as she felt they - the dogs - would behave for her...... not a chance! She called them, bribed them, grabbed them, whistled and gave them instructions which they totally ignored.  I must have taken at least 20 images for her on her cellphone when we called it a day. I handed the phone back to her when suddenly the dogs posed for her on the wall. I snapped with my camera as I walked away of her taking the photo she'd been trying to take for about ten minutes. 

We walked past a crooked tree which we have rather sweet memories of. We have a number of photos taken over the years of little boys leaning up against the trunk, too small to sit on it safely, then them sitting on it as they were now 'big stuff', then later again as they nonchalantly leant up against it again - too grown up to swing their legs. Now we have Moss in front of it - ready to charge off but good enough to sit and wait for me to take the obligatory picture.


All too soon we reached the far end of the woodland and re-entered farm land, where we passed a husband and wife couple walking in the opposite, we did the 'fellow walker nod' and carried on by, when suddenly I heard the first cuckoo of the year - the other woman heard it too, and almost simultaneously we both gasped out loud 'Cuckoo!'  Funnily enough neither husband had heard it. As the light breeze had become a little more blustery whilst we'd been in the woodland, it made it hard to hear the bird call but I was so pleased when I did!
We met a few more folk - some happily walking along, others marching on a mission and one couple laden with cameras - she was wearing a full length pale green skirt which billowed and flapped in the wind as she clamped her hand on her straw hat - she was delightful as she exclaimed how wonderful it was to see our dog (we missed the first part of her sentence as she grappled with her hat and her bag and her skirt) so we smiled and grinned and agreed with her!
It was soon after that my bad knee suddenly gave way and threw me to the ground. My other knee did the heroic thing and landed hard 'to save me' and in doing so I ripped my jeans and grazed my knee. (Bad knee BAD BAD knee grrrrr) any hoo, our rather jaunty bumble took on a bit of a lumpy gait.
With a bit of a limp and a dent in my pride we followed old tracks filled with flowers and surrounded by sheep and lambs. The lambs are quite large now - little mini sheep.

Our final thing to do was to pick some wild garlic to eat with our meal later (delish!) and to find a stream for Moss to throw herself into. Once we'd returned to the van, my knee was cleaned up, Moss munched on biscuits before falling asleep in the cab and not moving until we got home.
When we returned home - the kettle went on, I gave my knee another clean and slapped on some antiseptic cream. And talking of cream, we then sat down with mugs of tea and scones, jam and cream - what an excellent way to end a lovely day!







40 comments:

  1. Thank you for taking me along on the walk. I really enjoyed the scenery. Sorry about the tumble!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Gracie - apart from my pride and a bit of a graze, I am fine now 😊

      Delete
  2. Thankyou for a lovely walk in the woods, I think I could enjoy the fragrance all the way down here in Australia!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The fragrance was so rich yesterday that I am sure you could have done!

      Delete
  3. What a lovely walk. My daughter and I discovered a fabulous bluebell wood near Crickhowell last year - bluebells AND fab views. Love the wild flowers in your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :) I love the seasonality of them and the anticipation of the walk each year

      Delete
  4. What beautiful pictures! I love bluebells, especially in the wild. Respect that you managed to wear Moss out - please pass on gentle scritches.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does take some feat (or is it feet) to tire that dog out!😊

      Delete
  5. What a day!
    It seems a good year for cowslips..love them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seem to have been a good year for cowslips, the ones in our garden have 'blossomed' in more ways than one! We love the hybridisation of the primroses and cowslips that are there too - we jokingly called them primslips, cowroses or primcows!

      Delete
  6. OMG!!!!!!! It was an amazingly beautiful walk with so many gorgeous snaps. I recognised all the flowers as I scrolled down and read the blurb & kept thinking & longing to come across. I also had a good giggle at a few of your funny ancedotes with the twig(more branch), meeting people and lastly your tumble. Hope you are OK now & it is on the mend. Thanks for taking us along, take care & hugs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Knee scabby and doing well!
      It seems to have been a particularly good year for the spring flowers - we were really impressed with them :)

      Delete
  7. Moss looks lovely, biscuits do it every time! My Rufus had the same problem with a dew claw, it also eventually fell off. The purple orchids are gorgeous. I like your photos, particularly the cow, and the next one of Moss. I hope your leg is healing well. A glorious walk, a picnic, cream tea. A perfect day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dew claws can be a nuisance especially the type that are attached by a skin tag rather than a proper boned digit. I took so many pictures of the cows - I was spoilt for choice and plumped for the juiciest nose shot!

      Delete
  8. What a wonderful walk, I think I saw some of your stunning photos on Instagram. Looks like the perfect place to take in the bluebells. Moss looks dizzy with delight and dog tired after the excitement. Sorry about your fall. Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sharon - I think you and Wil should take Hugo there this weekend - excellent walking (and pub) and you were right Moss was both dizzy and dog tired - so we know it was a good dog day indeed!

      Delete
  9. Dodgy knee is very naughty but you did managed a good number of miles on that day. Seems both you and Moss are having sympathetic 'leg' problems. Fingers crossed Himself does not join 'the club'. As others have said, it was a wonderful walk. Fab photos as usual. Even Beloved this year has taken to pointing out bluebells and bluebell carpets to me! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it was a very naughty knee! The bluebells are glorious this year - it must have been the right amount of wet and dry, sunny and cool for them :)

      Delete
  10. Aside from the ouchy knee it looks a lovely walk. My Mum's just sent me this recipe for scones using wild garlic.https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park-landscape-garden/recipes/wild-garlic-and-cheese-scones?campid=SocialShare_Central_MainSite_Email_1431747712974

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They look absolutely delicious! I shall have to try them, Himself is a jam and cream fellow, but I can be easily persuaded to the dark side of savoury, pickle and cheese - - ooh yum

      Delete
  11. Oohh...I'm so jealous of that walk...all but the knee bit...I can do without that thank you...and have my own silly knee that just gives way sometimes...but Moss...you make me miss my doggie soooo much. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a lovely walk - seems there are a quite a few of us in the 'silly knee club'!

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello from a fellow African living in the Netherlands. I’m one of your faithful readers who doesn’t leave a comment of appreciation for sharing your everyday journeys with the rest of us. ☹️ Just want to say a HUGE thanks for sharing your walks, the English countryside, your crafts, your daily life, your family, and Moss with us. So. Saying a big thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello back fellow African, lovely to meet you! Thank you for such a lovely kind comment 💞

      Delete
  14. At least your day began and ended well. You have captured some wonderful images, Kate. Especially, of course, lovely Moss.
    A very enjoyable walk. I hope your knee is much better now. X

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for sharing that gorgeous walk. Sorry about the silly knee, looked very ouch but glad it is on the mend. Those flower pictures are fabulous. xx 🧡🦴x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Silly knee indeed! it was a lovely walk - one of our favourites which we look forward to each year :)

      Delete
  16. A lovely walk, beautiful flowers and great photos, I love the first one of Moss and the one below the cow. Sorry about you taking a tumble, I hope your knee is much better now :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a scabby knee (not had one of those since junior school!!) I often think of you when I put in Moss photos, wondering which one will appeal to you the most 💞🐾

      Delete
  17. I'm sorry about your knee. The flowers are beautiful. Our bluebells and wild garlic are on the way out now. Lots of photos taken and two pickings of garlic made.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your weather must be quite a bit further ahead than ours, our garlic is only really out this last few days and the bluebells are still opening and going strong :)

      Delete
  18. The bluebells are beautiful and it looks a lovely walk, but ouch for your knee ... ours are both very creaky too so I can empathise. It is frustrating not being able to walk as far or to bend and kneel like we used to ... the joys of getting older. I can still only really comment on my big PC, which I don't use that often, so apologies for not commenting as often. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I find that walking is the best thing for me - the more I walk the better I feel! My knee is still a bit 'grumpy' but having made it do over 24 miles since it 'threw' me to the floor in a fit of pique I think it has decided to be nice again!

      Delete
  19. Oh its a dog's life isn't it - Moss falling asleep after biscuits and a good hearty walk with sticks. Ouchee on the knee! Those purple orchids are incredible and the bluebells look so pretty against the dry stone walling. Regarding the cuckoo sound - men have selective hearing - I can be calling and calling Monsieur for urgent assistance to no avail, then the tiny beep sound of his Playstation turning on (which we are not meant to touch) gets his full attention! :0 :) x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most definitely a dog's life indeed! And as for male selective hearing 'disorder' mine definitely suffers from it hahaha

      Delete
  20. The bluebells are so fabulous at this time - a pilgrimage like yours sound perfect. I sympathise with your sore knee - my ankle started playing up again couple of months ago and I've not been on a decent walk since - gradually improving though. I hope yours is well on the mend. So happy to be back looking at your pics again - thank you for your comments the other day x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are beautiful this year - more so than normal we both felt, take care of your ankle - it is amazing how we rely on ourselves just 'working' and when bits dont - we really do miss them!

      Delete
  21. You picked a great day for your outing. So many flowers, gorgeous pictures. Sorry about your booboo, hope it heals nicely. Do you use a walking stick? I thought it might be helpful since you mentioned your bad knee. I'm pea green with envy for such an interesting place to hike/walk. I've been getting more steps of late, but mostly just walks through the neighborhood and or steps mowing and doing yard work. Nothing like the views you had.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh! ouch that must have hurt! I think I too would be wiggling impatiently to get off on such a wonderful walk and enjoy all the lovelies you found en route. Gorgeous bluebells! I have never seen their like here but perhaps there are in the northern part of Spain which I hope to visit some day. Native purple orchids...how exotic. I also find the more I walk the better I feel and hence less backache. Take care. Amanda x

    ReplyDelete

Hi there...

Thank you ever so much for stopping by today - I'm really glad that you did. If you would like to leave me a comment then I would be delighted to hear from you, any one signing as anonymous or writing anything unkind, political, any form of hate or computer generated will be acknowledged as spam and deleted.

Hawthorn x

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.